1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of automatic swimming pool cleaners, and in particular to a bag designed to collect the refuse and debris from the pool cleaner during operation of the unit.
2. Description of the Related Art
Automatic swimming pool cleaners for cleaning the floor and sidewalls of a swimming pool are well known.
There are generally four types of pool cleaners in the pool cleaning market: pressure or return side cleaners; suction cleaners; electric cleaners and in-floor cleaners.
Pressure or return side cleaners use a debris bag to collect debris in the pool. Water from a pump is fed into the cleaner to sweep and collect debris into the bag carried by the cleaner. This means that the bag itself has a weight, buoyancy, and a weight factor that changes when debris is collected in the bag. The cleaner must be able to traverse the entire pool without being toppled. Weight is added to the bag when debris is collected in the bag, changing the weight of the bag as the cleaner moves in the pool. In addition, when empty the bag may topple over to one side, and various methods of attaching the bag to the water supply have heretofore been used to ensure the bag remains upright so as not to impair performance of the cleaner.
In a pressure cleaner, the influx of water into the cleaner affects the manner in which the cleaner acts under water. The buoyancy of objects is also a significant consideration in developing pressure cleaners and is affected by the component in the cleaner and the water inflow and action of the water within the cleaner.
One particular type of known automatic pressure cleaner having four wheels is shown and described in co-pending U.S. Patent Ser. No. 08/741,957, and another three-wheel version in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,822,754, 3,936,899, and 4,558,479.
FIG. 1 shows, by way of example, a first embodiment of an automatic swimming pool cleaner 10, such as that shown in U.S. Ser. No. 08/741,957, suitable for use with the present invention. Cleaner 10 includes a frame 12 on which a housing, consisting of an upper housing shell 14 and a lower housing shell 16, is mounted. An open suction mast 18 for vacuuming debris from beneath the cleaner 10 extends through an opening 20, generally in the middle of the upper housing shell 14, and a collection bag 22 is attached to the suction mast, over a flapper valve 24 positioned on the upper end of the suction mast, to collect the debris. A pair of opposing jets, located inside the suction mast 18 near its inlet at the bottom of the cleaner 10, induce a flow of water upwardly through the suction mast and into the collection bag 22 in well-known manner. When the cleaner 10 is operating, the force of the water pushes open the flapper valve 24; when the cleaner ceases operating, the flapper valve closes by virtue of gravity to keep the debris in the collection bag 22 from failing back into the swimming pool through the open suction mast 18.
Although not shown in FIG. 1, the bag 22 may be coupled to line 32 by a loop of material in order to keep the bag in the position generally shown in FIG. 1. Nevertheless, the bag may still have a tendency to flop over to one side or another. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved debris bag adapted for submerged travel in a pool with a pool cleaner. The present invention fulfills these and other needs.